Watch Greek football fans turn their stadium into an insane “ring of fire” (VIDEO)

On Wednesday, PAOK played Olympiakos in the second leg of the Greek Cup semi-finals at Thessaloniki. Everyone behaved nicely, from the fans to the players.

LOL NOPE!

Everyone behaved exactly as you would expect absolutely insane Greek soccer fans to behave. It started, as such things do, with the police breaking out tear gas against PAOK fans rioting outside the stadium before the game started.

PAOK was coming into the game trailing 2-1 after the first leg, so naturally their supporters decided to turn the stadium into Mordor (but on fire) and scare the shit out of Olympiakos. From the Greek Reporter:

"…as the two teams entered the pitch, PAOK fans lit thousand of torches and smoke bombs, some of which were thrown at the Olympiakos players and bench."

UEFA via YouTube

But to be on the safe side, in case ALL OF THE FIRE didn’t work, PAOK fans dumped fish all over the rival team’s bench. Because symbolism, reports The Guardian:

"Olympiakos' home ground is in Athens' port of Piraeus, and its supporters are nicknamed "anchovies". 

All of this delayed the game’s start for more than an hour.

But don’t worry, the players made sure that the violent intensity wasn’t confined to the fans in the stands. The game contained 3 red cards and many many flares thrown on the field.

PAOK won 1-0, and supporters celebrated with your standard post-game rioting. The Greek Reporter notes:

After the final whistle, home fans stormed in to attack the Olympiakos players on the way to the locker room, with [Yiannis] Maniatis and Nelson Valdez getting hit, according to Olympiakos. 

This is your reminder that this was the SEMI-final. God only knows what will happen when PAOK plays Panathinaikos in Athens on April 26 in the cup final. 

GlobalPost recommends that you bookmark this article to send to your supposedly hardcore American football ("soccer") fans.

Hat Tip: Bleacher Report